Transition: Bailing out the auto industry

Per Obama’s transition office, the president-elect will lay a wreath in Chicago this morning to honor the nation’s fallen veterans. In addition, in DC,  John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama-Biden transition team, will hold a pen and pad briefing to provide an update on the presidential transition. Unlike the FDR-Hoover model, Obama apparently did ask Bush to intervene on one key economic decision: the auto industry . Bush wanted something in return: the Colombia free trade deal. "Bush indicated at the meeting that he might support some aid and a broader economic stimulus package if Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats dropped their opposition to a free-trade agreement with Colombia, a measure for which Mr. Bush has long fought, people familiar with the discussion said. The Bush administration, which has presided over a major intervention in the financial industry, has balked at allowing the automakers to tap into the $700 billion bailout fund, despite warnings ... (link)